Diet Doctor Podcast #108:
The real story of beef, climate, and your health
You have likely heard that eating less beef will help the environment. While this is a popular stance on social media, it is overly simplistic and doesn’t consider the whole picture.
Cows emit methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. So having fewer cows can reduce greenhouse gasses. But what about beef’s role as a nutrient-dense source of high-quality protein? Or the role cows can play in improving biodiversity and soil health? A full discussion needs to go beyond a simple math equation.
Ty Beal, PhD, joins me to discuss the importance of beef for worldwide nutrition, and Ariel Greenwood helps us better understand the role cows play in land management.
About the video
Virtual podcast recorded in September 2022, published in October 2022.
Host: Dr. Bret Scher
Producer: Hari Dewang
Table of contents
00:00 Introduction to Ty Beal, PhD
02:00 The concept of eating for a healthier climate
07:54 A trade-off among improving soil quality, land use and GHG emission
14:07 What if we remove cattle from the equation?
23:10 Could animal-sourced foods play an important role in the dietary matrix?
25:52 Minimizing the risk of deforestation
30:30 Maintaining the herds size for a lower environmental impact
38:48 Ariel Greenwood
39:42 The upbringing of becoming a livestock manager
45:19 The holes in the rewilding argument
54:50 Imminent necessity of producing less beef with little environmental impact
1:02:36 The connection between ranching and deforestation
1:07:55 Ariel’s dream in a few years time
David Montgomery, PhD, and Anne Biklé wrote a new book, What Your Food Ate, stating that, yes, healthy soil can lead to healthier people. And the research from Stephan Van Vliet, PhD, appears to support that claim.
Produce grown on healthier soil leads to healthier plants. Animals that eat these plants have more of the potentially healthful phytonutrients. Therefore, humans who eat the plants or animals will also potentially benefit from the greater nutrients.
Will this translate to better human health? We don’t know the answer yet. But it is a fascinating discussion and an important topic as we look to the future of agriculture and farming.
About the video
Virtual podcast recorded in September 2022, published in October 2022.
Host: Dr. Bret Scher
Producer: Hari Dewang
